Harry Potter and the Sage of Ravenclaw
by Lil moonprincess
Summary: A treasured item of Ravenclaw is in danger of falling into the hands of the Dark Lord. The responsibility of a Sage falls on one least expected girl to protect that item AND protect the Boy Who Lived. However, will love fall on the both of them as well? AU Post HBP/Seventh Year


Disclaimer: Everything in this fanfiction belongs to J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter and the Sage of Ravenclaw

The night's breeze turned cool and refreshing, but not so for a wandering soul in the obscure halls of Hogwarts. To her, the wind held a chill a few steps colder.

With her dress billowing in a ghostly pallor, she slowly turned her head and listened closely for any suspicious noise around any corner and behind any wall. As soon as she felt that no one else was following her, the woman kept a swift pace toward a hidden terrace unknown except to extremely few mischievous Hogwarts students and only one ghost.

That ghost, of course, was her.

Pursing her lips, she held up her right hand in front of her face, her eyes glowing with sadness in the moonlight. Just how, after all of these years, had she come to wander around as a ghost of a being, a being that she was starting to regret to have ever existed. That bloody Baron, he just had to intervene and ruin everything for her. She would have come along and paid her respects to her mother. Before, well, before she passed away.

Her eyes stared hard at her hand in a wistful manner, as though she half expected for something to appear in it. Tears would've come out, but she could not will them to do so. After hundreds of years, she learned to tamper down her feelings in fear of someone coming upon her in her private moment of the hour. Tearing her eyes away, she resumed her path until she found a corner where she could hide from the gleam of the moon and sat down under an arbour that had been decorated with an assortment of ferns and vines creeping up the stone in a lazy pattern. In front of her, a pond trickled gently into a small but clear pool of water. Tonight would be the time for her to think.

Her hands balled up into fists and she bit the bottom of her lip, staring straight into the pond. What was she to do, what was she to do? That little boy...no, that man. Even as she was no longer alive she could feel his cold grasp reaching for her. His greed treading closer and closer to getting his wretched hands on the precious Ravenclaw Diadem, coming to claim his prize after recent events. She had hoped that Dumbledore would stamp him out of danger's way, but now that the Headmaster's been killed...the ghost woman shuddered to think of what was going to happen next. But there was no time to be frightened. The Diadem was in grave danger. What is she to do, what is she to do...

Suddenly, her mother's dark eyes and mysterious smile appeared in her memories. Placing a palm over where her heart used to be, she felt a phantom yearning grow stronger. What would her mother say? Would she still convey wisdom to her even when she still took the family treasure from the safety of her mother's guard and care? Would she still think of her as traitor? A downcast look befell on the beautiful ghost's haughty face as she regretted taking the Diadem away, laying plan to what was perhaps her most stupid move.

"These halls can be so dark – Ah! My Lady, I finally found you," a man's voice squeaked, making the Grey Lady jumped from her thoughts. Turning on her spot, she relaxed as she took in the presence of Filius Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw House, who was fiddling with the bridge of his glasses in order to put them on.

"I see that you've found my hiding spot," the Grey Lady muttered.

"Yes, yes I have – and to think I was just going to give up. But tonight is not the night to hold small conversation. My Lady, I believe that it is time."

Flitwick held his breath for a response, but the Grey Lady did not utter another word, shifting her transparent body so that the moonlight faintly beamed through her and made a soft glow about her.

"The Diadem...I know you've found out where You-Know Who has hidden it. So I'm wondering if you -,"

"-hid it in another location?" The Grey Lady finished for him. The little professor nodded gently and then added, "It is important that no one else except for you knows that information. Imperative that that Diadem is safe from him, at all costs. However, I want to mention that the location of the Diadem will soon be known to someone else."

The Grey Lady could have felt the wind cease from flowing with time, as though time stopped by Flitwick's words. The cold lick of anxiety muddled her brain into further guilt and turmoil.

"I know. Is that why you told me that it was finally time?"

"Yes, my Lady."

She did not know whether to disappear on the spot or to just scream at him. Only the wish of her mother's wisdom could guide her out of this mess. A tight corner enclosed around her subconscious, slowly turning her into a guilty child standing against a corner in front of an authority for taking away candy.

"There is only one other person who can possibly have foresight towards the Diadem," the Grey Lady said haltingly. She turned around and finally met Filius's gentle eyes.

"The Sage of Ravenclaw," they both said.

So it was known. Their dire hope that the Sage of Ravenclaw, the appointed guardian of Hogwarts and treasured wisdom, would help them against Lord Voldemort and his growing army of mayhem became a very large one. What scared Helena more, however, was that she already had a strong sense of who the next Sage was.

"...you know who it is, don't you Helena?" Flitwick piped up, reading every expression on her face with shocking accuracy.

With silence, Helena glanced up toward the sky. The stars reminded her again of her mother, blinking in and out. Brightly for always knowing what to see and dimmly for what knowledge to blind themselves from.

"But do you think she will be ready, Professor Flitwick?" Helena asked in a worried tone.

Flitwick scratched the back of his head. "Whoever she may be, I am positive that the instinct will kick in and she will know what her duty is before You-Know-Who could catch wind and try to get ahold of her influence. Or worse, kill her. I am not sure what he wants with the Diadem, but Dumbledore has informed me to tell you to keep an eye out on it, and also on the Sage herself.

"But even if her duty lies in protecting the sacred magic of Ravenclaw, I believe that she would have another duty to fulfill as well, one that will probably benefit us in the long run."

Helena widened her eyes at this. A new task. Just what else could the new Sage be doing that was as important as the Diadem?

"What exactly would that be?" Helena voiced aloud. It showed little, but the glimmer of curiosity faintly flared in her eyes.

"The Sage also has to fight to protect another, the key to defeating him."

It did not take long before the answer crept upon Helena like a newborn kitten.

"She has to protect The Boy Who Lived," she said with a soft tone. Flitwick nodded.

"With Dumbledore gone, I would wager that he is entrusting the next best protection for Harry Potter – from the very magic of Hogwarts – towards the Sage. And I think that he would not have made a better choice for it," Flitwick said, a wistful and admirable tone present in his grieving voice. The Grey Lady, however, kept her steel gaze on the professor.

"Protecting him? That is too dangerous! She is just sixteen years old!" Helena exclaimed, standing from her spot and floating excitedly to the dark corner of the hall.

Flitwick's eyes widened in alarm. "Oh, so she is young after all? Just what I feared. That's...not good, not very good at all..."

"I am not sure how much time she would need before she would fully awaken as a Sage. She has to listen to her calling, listen to it willfully. And who's to say that she would accept it? Protecting the Diadem is one thing, but protecting one that HE wants to kill – a marked boy, mind you – it could get herself killed! Then everything would fall into chaos! It's far too risky"

"But the entirety of the Wizarding World is depending on this young man! We need him safe and alive for now, so the only way for us to be sure of that is to have the new Sage protect him!"

"Can't you see? In order for him to live, she might have to sacrifice her own life! Damn it all – if only I had that Diadem in my hands, away from You-Know-Who, and even if only I had given it straight back to -"

"HELENA!"

Helena stopped her ranting, at a loss for words and looking completely defeated.

"Helena, my dear, as Dumbledore said: the past can never be reclaimed and you could only do so much but look back. There is no need to tear yourself down over mistakes. This is the present. This is the time where we – you – can right those mistakes. And right now, one way of doing that is ensuring that the Sage protects the boy," Flitwick said.

After much thought, she agreed.

"Right. One condition however. In exchange, I want to make sure that Harry Potter protects HER as well," Helena argued. Flitwick only nodded in fervent agreement, but he stopped when he saw a ghost of a smile form on her lips.

"Helena? My Lady?" Flitwick said.

"Protecting him...protecting her...somehow, I do not see that becoming a predicament for us."

"Oh? How do you mean?"

The Grey Lady laid a finger on one of the flowers, the finger itself falling through like an illusion.

"Because Harry Potter and the girl are already acquaintances. Do not worry, I have seen them within each other's company for quite some time," she said, still smiling.

A clap of the hands and a chuckle was all that told Helena that Flitwick was quite pleased with this turn of events.

"Oh, wonderful, wonderful! At least there would be no tension of introductions and such in the way – I love how everything's suddenly falling into place."

"By the way, I do agree," Helena said softly.

"Yes?"

"About Harry Potter...we do need him...,"

She thought again of the Diadem.

"We need both of them."

Flitwick smiled, straightening his hat and about to take leave. "So, who IS the lucky girl that I shall be informing?"

Helena grimaced at how the prospect of taking on a huge burden of power was 'lucky', but she did chuckle of her most unexpected answer.

"Oh, someone that you would LEAST expect to become a Sage in the first place. Someone who is...quite, _quite_ unique," Helena said.

"U-unique? In a good, wise way?" Flitwick said unsure.

"...somewhat. But I know she has a good heart – a beautiful heart for it. I'm sure she won't take it with much difficulty," Helena replied.

Leaning down, she cupped a hand to her ear and whispered the girl's name, which caused Flitwick's eyes to nearly pop out of his head in shock.

"Err...this is most unexpected, seeing as I have seen her interactions with the other students in my House. Right then. Do you have the Ravenclaw Carcanet?"

No sooner had it appeared than Helena reached into her small bag and held it in her palm. It was a silvery chain that had a bauble designed in the Ravenclaw crest, but at the bottom of the crest were two swords, with a small flame in the middle.

"Keep it safe, please. And be sure to tell her that as well," Helena said.

They both smiled. Flitwick took the carcanet and they waved each other off before the Grey Lady returned to the trellis and rested her weary thoughts.

_ 'Mother, give the new Sage your blessing and guide her to the right path. I may not be alive to protect it now, but tonight I am determined to right all the wrongs that happened to lead to this disaster. I'm putting forth all of my faith into you, new Sage. Please, please do not let him hold that Diadem. And also, please, protect Harry Potter. Protect him as much as your heart can give and let him protect you,' _she prayed.

Then, she resumed looking up at the stars, hoping to catch a glimpse of the knowing glimmer reminiscent of her mother's eyes, hoping that she has finally given her blessing.

"Look, Daddy! I think I spot the Tottering Tinkle Rinkles gathering 'round that rowan tree," a dreamy voice said through the leaves.

Crashing through the bushes, a tall man in camouflage robes pulled apart the brambles, squinted his eyes and smiled brightly at his daughter. "Love, I think you're on to something! I believe we may have finally found them! Good work," he said estactically, kissing the cheek of a bright eyed girl with long, flowing hair the color of hay and wearing a matching outfit to boot.

It was just another one of those beginning summer days for Luna Lovegood and her dear father.


End file.
